Boundary Lakes is a brand new golf course in a Hotel/Cricket set up, the famous Ageas Bowl in Southampton/Hilton hotel. It opened in July 2017, membership is already full despite the facilities not quite finished, no Clubhouse as such, quite a few niggles but one uses the Hilton hotel bar and members get a 20 per cent discount, just as well as prices are quite extortionate for a golfer.... but one has access to 2 wonderful large terraces overlooking the 1st, 2nd and 18th holes. The other terrace by the "Beefy" restaurant overlooks the famous cricket ground.

No sure who designed this course, I believe it incorporates an existing 9 holes which my not-updated TOMTOM watch mentioned....So if you plan to play the course , do update your GPS equipments etc. No sure if the designer was a passionate golfer as the flow between holes is quite adverse, lots of walking, making the round even longer. although I must admit it was very well signposted. Lots of criss cross, going back etc but it gives you a chance to pick the juicy blackberries along the way. Unfortunately because of its location the M27 is heard on about 4 or 5 holes, in fact, it feels like the hard shoulder is only a few meters away....but as you get on with the back 9 you get into serenity and even more picturest scenery. My favourite part of the course.

The course is short, but very tough as a lot of blind holes, be it Par 3s, 4s or 5s. One cannot see the bunkers protecting the greens nor the flag. Bells are situated o a few holes, in fact there could be more bells. Inclines and slopes, little mounts, one hole or 2 may feel a little "linksy", as the name suggest, water comes into play o on approximately 10 holes.

Some holes are very memorable, will mention 2:

9th, Par 3, tricky as trouble on the left with a stream a large pot bunker. I Birdie this hole, my ball hit the flag and fell 14" (approx 35cm) from the flagstick.

14th, Par 5 is a Wentworth style hole (West course), tee over a lake, uphill and lots of beautiful shaped bunkers in the distance. This is the Signature hole, all the Par 3s are all very beautiful, they all play a lot longer than the yardage on the card.

Not quite sure why the 1st Tee is placed before a path to the overflow car park, dangerous for cars and pedestrian alike as no signs saying beware.... The Overflow is not lit at night either.

To me it looks like there was a rush in getting this 18th hole created and finished, not enough attention and care.

The fairways were in very good condition, the bunkers had great shapes with what looks like lovely fluffy sand, that was from watching my golfing partners play from there. I never visited any, may be one actually, instead I went in the water on the 2nd hole. The rough is thick and tricky to play from, that is you find your ball.

The greens were not to my expectation, well I am spoilt as I normally play on 1st class greens even with hollow tining or other maintenance programme. There was a lot of missed putts from all of us, not from reading but from the surface itself.

The Tee boxes already show signs of overuse. On the 1st tee the Yellow is now with the Red Tee making the course even shorter for the Men by some 50 yards.....

Good paths to next tee signage, ball washers and bins. Sand and seeds on tee boxes.

Despite all my comments, I enjoyed playing the course, it was a Charity day raising money for Portsmouth Hospital Charity. I got the best personal score out of 41 players. Our team was not far from the 3 finalists.

I managed to win my bid at the Auction for a 4 balls voucher (already oversubscribed) for Hayling Golf Club.

The Proshop is run by American golf, all the necessary but not a lot of choice for Ladies clothing.Very nice Ladies Changing room. Very posh, makes you want to spend a lot of time in the shower etc...

Large car park but not a great layout, overflow down the path between the 1st Tee and the fairway. the path.

I believe from reading Michael and Steve's reviews that there are plans to lengthen the course, not a bad thing, but I think it should be done once this 1st stage is settled in a bit more and different things tidied up, There was lots of GURs.

It will be a great course when matured.

I am playing the course again this Sunday with a Member and my friend Anna, in fact we have entered a Ladies competition...Very much looking forward to it.

Boundary Lakes GC is a new par 69 parkland golf course opened in July 2017 at the Ageas Bowl, ie the Hampshire County Cricket Ground, on the outskirts of Southampton, very close to the M27, ie within earshot of the motorway on the 4th hole. It is about an 90 minute drive from South West London.

Weekday visitor green fees are £30. We paid a charity competition event rate of £65 each including coffee/bacon roll, 18 holes, a three course post match evening meal and prizes. A little high as a two course meal would have sufficed! The competition was in honour of the Portsmouth Hospitals Charity.

The golf course facilities are not yet complete, ie access to a new clubhouse is under construction and completion expected within weeks. The golfers currently use the Hilton Hotel bar which is not a reasonably priced option. Whether the new clubhouse facilities will be good remains to be seen.

There is also a 'small' American Golf store on site which acts as the pro-shop. The large American Golf store at the nearby Hedge End Driving Range is a better bet in terms of options and prices for equipment and clothes etc.

The practice range/facilities are also not yet ready.

I played the course as part of a four-ball team including captain Brigitte Lockwood, Steve Duffy and Tim Joy. Best two stableford scores to count each hole. We scored 84 points, just outside of the prizes, 2nd and 3rd prizes were 86 points. Brigitte's individual score was 42 points, best by 3 for all of the competitors but unfortunately there wasn't any individual prizes. Shame but maybe next time!

To the course. The course is stated to be of USGA standard greens, which usually means good drainage and lots of water hazards. Needless to say, as the course name implies, water, be they lakes, ponds or ditches, was in play in a significant way on at least 7 of the 18 holes. In terms of visual impact, the 1st, 2nd and 18th holes immediately in front of the Ageas Bowl/Hilton Hotel were most prominent in terms of water hazards

There are 7 par 3s, 7 par 4s and 4 par 5s on the course, an unusual combination. Only Chislehurst GC of the 18 holes courses I have played has more par 3s. Word was at the end of our round that plans are in place to modify the course to reduce the number of par 3s and bring the course up to a par 71 or 72!! I hope this develops in due course!

The course starts and finishes outside of the Ageas Bowl, then meanders away through the 'country'. The course is wonderfully laid out; the visual impact of the back 9 is more stunning with numerous changes in elevation. Whilst hilly in places it was not unbearable so!

I thought the 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 14th and 16th were visually stunning holes. The 17th might also fall into that category if I had played it how it was intended to be played! The downhill 'short' 231 yard par 4, drivable for some, was a brute of a challenge, despite its index 17 rating. An unreceptive green, whether directly from the tee shot (I wish) and a truly difficult uphill chip from short of the green.

The course was in mixed condition. Fairways and bunkers were in excellent condition. The rough was lush or thick. Avoid! The tee boxes were showing signs of overuse even after only one months use. Probably needs more settling in before it is up to standard. Good sized 'all weather' temporary tee boxes would be useful.

The greens were of various sizes, shapes and elevation, a lot of uphill approaches required. They were very firm, ie non-receptive, so were difficult to hold onto whether pitched onto or rolled up. Especially difficult with so many par 3s. However, they had recently been verticut and were about 7-10 days away from full playability. They need a good ironing to bring up the speeds.

There are many blind shots from the tees or up to the greens, especially for the shorter/medium hitters. The 'tiger' line approach isn't the sensible approach to take on some of these.

There is a waiting list for membership to the course. Not sure this has the ambience of a golf club, unless the new clubhouse changes this factor, but it is a very enjoyable golfing challenge and should be an excellent venue for societies! Despite the excess number of par 3s, which has the probability of creating bottlenecks at busy times, I expect this course to mature wonderfully over the next 18 months or so, and possibly become a 'must play' venue.

As a new course my GPS watch didn't have any details of the course yardages. You'll need to do an upload to get up to date. I believe however that the course buggies have GPS facilities on board.

Course itself is based around the cricket ground and the Marriot hotel, so no problems with facilities as such, the hotel coming with the required bar, terrace and food. The "clubhouse" is still to be finalised and at present everything is run by the small american golf store on site, however everyone was welcoming and friendly. The Pro being especially happy to chat about the course.

Practise facilities at present are a little lacking, with just one net and a practice green but they are just waiting for the final elements to be put in place before opening a dedicated range, so that should change.

The course itself is where opinions will divide. The course is fairly short (not always a bad thing) and there are plans already to extend two holes which will reduce the number of par 3's and increase the course length. To make up for this, there is a lot of walking between holes. A lot. Exceptionally a lot, which more than makes up for the the course length and should keep those fit-bitters happy. However it's also a little too convoluted, with pathways criss crossing over each other and long walks to tees and back again from the greens. This is unfortunate and possibly a throw back to being a 9 hole course previously. To be honest it didn't ruin my visit because most, if not all, of the holes are very nice, bordering on great. Lot's of variety stops things getting boring, with from memory no two holes feeling the same. There are a lot of blind shots and unseen problems but I would think a couple of visits would sort that out and make the holes a pleasure to play. There is plenty of water but it can be avoided on most holes if you think your way around. Basically very enjoyable.

The course is new. It needs to bed in. Accept that and you will enjoy and it might be best to do so sooner rather than later as the prices will probably rise next year (step forward Mr TSG to go hunting for a good deal).

All in all, definitely worth a visit.......and against what may come in later reviews :o) the greens are perfectly good. They ran true both in direction and pace and even the hollow tining didn't make any marked difference.